An event management company is aiming to transform into a £20million business as it gears up for expansion.

Bosses at Elle Events started working with a business coach 18 months ago as they began to properly focus on growing the company.

Now co-founders and directors Valerie Fairnie and Joanna Daley have a clear idea of where they want the Edinburgh-based venture to go.

A sales person has just been hired in order to target new business areas and grow services with existing customers.

They are also expecting turnover to increase by almost 50 per cent by 2009.

Fairnie, 32, said: "Working with a business coach has taken us on leaps and bounds and we now have a clear vision for the company.

"In our first year we turned over about £300,000 and this year we expect it to be £2.7m.

"Our vision is to grow turnover to £20million though we haven't set ourselves any timescales on that but we are focused on being positive in these times of doom and gloom. We have just employed a full-time sales person as up until now we have not done a massive amount of sales.

"Our business has grown organically through referrals and doing more for current clients.

"So we see the next step as being quite significant for us and we would be looking for turnover to be around £4m next year."

Current clients include Royal Bank of Scotland, Johnson and Johnson, Intelligent Finance, Ethicon and Baillie Gifford.

Elle Events specialises in putting together conferences of up to 250 people and incentive trips for corporate rewards.

It works across the UK and abroad with staff travelling to the likes of Florence, Monte Carlo and the USA to be on site for events.

Fairnie said: "At the moment one of our UK clients has referred us to their office in the States and they want us to organise an event in Hawaii.

"So it is just growing and growing and we see that opportunity out there for us.

"All our clients are mainly based in the UK corporate market but we haven't really gone out for the business coming into Scotland.

"Even with the clients we do have there is so much untapped for us.

"We can still do so much more for them but undoubtedly there are new markets and clients within Europe and the States which offer opportunities."

Fairnie and Daley, 37, both had careers in the hospitality industry with the likes of Forte and Hilton before setting up Elle Events in late 2001.

At the moment the company employs nine people though that is expected to grow as it expands.